Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSD) FAQ

Will I be able to stop my medication if I get a Psychiatric Service Dog?

No. A PSD should be used in combination with an existing treatment plan that is supervised by a licensed medical professional.

How does a PSD help with "invisible" disorders like anxiety?

Your Service Dog will learn its handler’s physiologic baseline and will be able to recognize deviations from that baseline that are indicative of the onset of mental illness. However this phenomenon is dependent upon the handler learning to ‘read’ his/her dog as the dog is ‘reading’ its handler, a specialized skill that takes practice and often, mentorship from another PSD handler who can help new handlers recognize these valuable canine alerting behaviors. This recognition of handler’s baseline and the variations thereof is a phenomenon that only occurs when dog and handler are together 24/7 for a period of at least six months.

What will my dog do to tell me a psychiatric episode is imminent?

Alerting behavior does not look the same in every dog. Some dogs alert by pawing their handler’s leg. Others alert by ‘misbehaving’. Still others alert by barking or nibbling toes or fingers. Alerting behaviors are unique to each dog.

Should I bring my PSD with me everywhere?

For a PSD to be effective, it must accompany its handler at least 90% of the time. This is required to sustain a therapeutic bond with a Service Dog and maintain its training.

Psychiatric Service Dogs and PTSD

The Use of Psychiatric Service Dogs with Soldiers Who Have PTSD Principal Investigators: Craig Love, Ph.D., Westat, Inc., and Joan Esnayra, Psychiatric Service Dog Society

Psychiatric service dogs are trained to meet the disability-related needs of people living with a variety of psychological conditions, including PTSD. A preliminary survey of people using psychiatric service dogs indicates that 82 percent of those with a PTSD, diagnosis reported a reduction in symptoms after being partnered with a trained dog. Another 40 percent report that their use of medication decreased subsequent to a human-canine partnership. Many reported in hindsight that their dogs could sense oncoming episodes of mental illness, such as manic episodes and panic attacks, even before the patients themselves could perceive the change.

A partnership of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, Westat, the National Institutes of Health, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center is testing the effectiveness of the psychiatric service dog intervention for soldiers and veterans who are disabled by PTSD as well as the feasibility of implementing a psychiatric service dog training program at a military medical facility.

Study participants, soldiers disabled by PTSD, will be randomly assigned to one of two groups over a 12-month period. One group of 10 soldiers will receive a dog and professional training, while another group of 10 will receive neither. Both groups will undergo the usual treatment protocol for soldiers with PTSD at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Participants will be evaluated throughout the 12-month period to assess their symptom improvement and illness management.

"Dogs can be trained to know their companions' needs and respond to them in unique ways," said Craig Love, of Westat, Inc. a private research organization. "We hope to show that this human-canine partnership is effective from both a clinical and cost standpoint so more soldiers and veterans can take advantage of this type of therapy."